Why do men have to wear hawaiian shirts on this occassion?”
Spring is here, and that means the season has arrived for tropical print camp shirts, better known as Hawaiian shirts. After a harsh winter, a change of attire can spark a change of attitude. “The minute you put them on, you feel a little more relaxed,” said Doug Wood, chief operating officer of Seattle-based Tommy Bahama, one of the nation’s top sellers of upscale versions of Hawaiian shirts. Hawaiian shirts have been riding one of their periodic waves of popularity in recent years, thanks to the influence of surfer chic. Despite their humble 1930s origins and iconoclastic image, Hawaiian shirts are a serious business and subject of academic study. And they are popular everywhere, said Linda Arthur, a textile professor at Washington State University who has written several books about Aloha shirts, the preferred name among aficionados. “The Aloha shirt has covered the globe,” Arthur said. Aloha shirts were invented in the 1930s, when mom-and-pop tailors in Hawaii began making Western-
I remember a time, and it wasn’t so long ago, when men who cared about their appearance and actually made the effort to dress well were shunned by many of their male peers and made the butt of countless jokes. These groomed jerks had some nerve parading around in their fancy clothes. Who were they to impose such a direct threat to the guys who just enjoyed the everyday comforts of wearing baggy tee-shits, football jerseys and colorful Bermuda shorts? Shame on them, for putting this silly notion in women’s heads; that a man can have a sense of fashion without compromising his masculinity. Sure enough, the days of men wearing whatever they want without comment from the female peanut gallery have come and gone. Now, men file in through the doors of fashion, one-by-one… But wait! It’s not all that bad, guys. Even though women do have some expectations of what you should be wearing, they certainly do not want you to spend more time dolling up than they do. Here are just a few insights into
